Railway indicator



T. E. KYNISTON RAILWAY INDICATOR Nov. 3 1925.

Filed March 2, 1925 F nmtov.

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Patented Nov. 3, 1925.

Y UNITED STATES reforms E. KYNISTON, or sro'xnnn, wAsHinGTon.

RAILWAY INDICATOR.

pp i a io file March 2,. 122a Set al m. 12,5

To all whom it may concern:

7 Be it known that I, THOMAS E. KYNISTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Spokane, in Spokane County, and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Indicators, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to improvements in railway indicators of the changeable and reversible type for use at stations, on street railway cars and also on cars of a railroad train. For convenience of description and illustration I shall hereafter refer to the device as a street indicator for use on street railway cars. The street indicator has employed in combination therewith an advertising device and is of that type employing an endless web upon which are displayed successively the streets and avenues,

the web being adapted to travel over or around a plurality of spaced rollers and preferably operated by the conductor or motorman of the street car, as hereinafter described.

Means. are provided for retaining the endless, webs under the proper tension and to prevent undue wear upon them and preferably a ratchet mechanism, is utilized for op- ,erating the changeable exhibitors.

The invention consists in certain novel combinations and arrangements of parts for accomplishing the above outlined objects as will hereinafter be more fully and specifi- In the accompanying lustrated one complete example of the physical embodiment of my invention wherein the parts are combined and arranged in accordance with the bestmode I have thus far devised for the practical application of the principles of my invention.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an appliance illustrating my invention as a whole.

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the exhibitor at line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail sectional view of a porting of the casing or box showing the gearing and connections for transmitting motion to the advertising portion of the annunciator.

Figure dis a detail perspective view showing one of the journal bearings of the tension device for holding the endless web's taut.

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail sectional "drawings I have il view of one of the resiliently supported journal bearings.

V Figure '6 is a detail view of the ratchet mechanism for operating the webs. I

In carrying out my'invention I utilize a box or casing l of metal or woodwhich is located at a conspicuous place in the car and visible to the passengers for giving the re.-. quired information. At its upper front end the casing has a hood 2 over the illuminating lamp 3 and the front wall or door of the casing is fashioned with an upper window or opening 4 and a lower larger window; 5, I the, former for street indications and the latter for advertisements, as illustrated in Figure l. V I 7 Two webs of endless type are enclosed within the casing the web Gbearing succe'ssively arranged streets or avenues and the web 7 bearing a succession of advertisements, the insignia on each web being de-': signed to. appear successively at their re spective windows. I Asingle operating shaft 8 is employed for, moving both of the endless webs at intermittent intervals, and an'operating roller 9'is carried by this shaft for operating the street indicating web 6. The roller and its shaft are journaled in the walls of the casing or in brackets thereon near the top of the casing and the'web passes over this roller andis moved as the roller is revolved.

A plurality of rollers are provided for the web'6as indicated at 10, 1'1, 12,, 13, 14:, 15, and 16, and smaller rollers or guides 17 are located at the proper'places for guiding the moving web.

By passing the web over or around the upper and lower series of rollers it main tained in extended position at all times and is thus relieved to a considerable degree of wear and consequentdeterioration' The lower set of rollers 12, 14 and 16 are journaled in an adjustable bearing block 18 held under tension in a housing 19 which is fashioned with side guide flanges 20 for the block. One of these bearing blocks is provided at the respective ends of this lower set of rollers and the housings for the blocks are rigidly attached at the opposite sides of the casing and within its interior. I

Resilient means are employed for holding the web taut or under tension at all times, and it will be seen in Figure 4 that the bear- I ing block is spring pressed for this purpose.

Lugs 21 on the block and on abutting flanges 22 of the housing have interposed between them springs 23 which tend to urge the blocks downwardly and thus hold the web taut. As an auxiliary device for this purpose the blocks are provided with recesses 24 in their inner faces to accommodate springs 25 which bear upon the journals 26 of the rollers supported in the bearing blocks, as seen in Figures 4 and 5. By the utilization of these resilient means the extended webs are maintained in taut condition and under the proper tension to present their exposed portions at the respective windows, for display.

The endless web 7 for the successively displayed advertisements carried thereon is supported on an operating roller 27 journaled in the walls of the casing just above the window 5 and upon a lower guide roller 28. This guide roller is journaled in the bearing blocks 18 which form a tension device as described for the .web.

For intermittently actuating the webs I employ a ratchet mechanism located in the upper portion of the housing and comprising a ratchet wheel 29 fixed to revolve with the shaft 8 as in Figure 6. An operating lever 30 is pivoted on the shaft 8 and a pull cord 31 extends to convenient and accessible position for the motorman or conductor tooperate. The lever carries at its ends two ratchets or pawls 32 and 33adapted for selective use and engagement with the ratchet wheel, the lever being shifted at the end of a route to disengage the active pawl and engage the inactive pawl for reverse movement of the webs. The selected pawl is held in engagement with the ratchet wheel by a spring as 34, and a retracting on and arranged transversely of the ratchet wheel and at its ends the link is slotted as at 38 and 39 for co-action with pins 40 projecting from the pawls or ratchets. By swinging the reverse lever on its pivot it will be apparent that one pawl is disengaged from the wheel while the other pawl or ratchet is engaged with the wheel thus causing a reversal in the movement of the webs when they are operated as previously described.

For transmitting power from the operating shaft 8 to the advertising web I use adrive gear or pinion 41 outside of the easing on the projecting end of shaft 8 and this gear forms a train in connection with an idle gear 42 and a driven gear 43 on the driving shaft 44 of the operating roller 27 0f the advertising web, thus insuring the proper and synchronous movement of the two webs.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In an indicator as described the combination with an operating shaft and roller thereon of an endless web and a plurality of rollers adjacent said roller, a plurality of spaced rollers for said web, bearing blocks for the respective ends of said spaced rollers, housings for the blocks, and tension springs interposed between said "housings and blocks for the purpose described.

2. In an indicator as described the combination with an endless web an operating shaft and a roller thereon, of a plurality of rollers adjacent said roller, a plurality of spaced rollers for the web, bearing blocks for the respective journal ends of said spaced rollers, a housing for each block, guide flanges on the housings for said blocks, overhanging lugs on said housings and tension springs interposed between said blocks and overhanging lugs.

3. The combination with an endlessweb, an operating roller, and shaft, of a ratchet wheel on the shaft, a lever pivoted on the shaft and selective ratchets on said lever, a reverse lever pivoted on said lever having a slotted link pivoted thereto, and pins on the ratchets for co-action with said link,

In testimony whereof I aifix my signa ture.

THOMAS E. KYNIST'ON. 

